


This Beauty By My Side

by BridgetteIrish



Series: Musician!Kara [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Kara really loves pianos okay, Piano!Kink, but sexy fluff?, like a lot of fluff, musician!Kara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 10:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9230216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: Kara and Cat are apart on New Years, but the piano somehow always brings them together.An established relationship follow-up to my pre-relationship fic, Baby Grand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to reginalovesemma, kara-lesbihonest and rtarara for the fantastic edits, encouragement and feedback.  
> You know I couldn't do it without you.

Kara left the party early.  She left before the ball dropped and the champagne had been popped,  before the confetti and the noisemakers and the resolutions had been made to be broken.  

Most importantly, though, she left before Mon-El and James could make good on their hints to bestow the dreaded midnight kiss on her.  She had seen the longing looks, the soft gazes from across the room, the shy requests for a dance.  She knew the difference between Winn’s strong, friendly grip around her waist as he twirled and dipped her and made her giggle and James’s tentative hand on her hip as he looked mournfully into her eyes while swaying her back and forth.  Her final decision was made, however, when Mon-El, fascinated with the crushed velvet dress she had chosen for the evening, let his curious hand wander across her ass as his whiskey-scented breath heated her neck, sending unpleasant shivers through her.

She pulled away from Mon-El, squeezed his biceps with a sad smile and grabbed a glass of champagne on her way to the terrace.  The December air was chilly, even for Southern California, but Kara’s gaze lifted instinctively to the sky.  She thought of Cat, so far away.  She thought of the apologies and wishes exchanged between them the night before when Cat told her from so many miles away that she wouldn’t make it home.

“Go out and have fun with your friends, darling.  We’ll celebrate our new beginnings just as soon as I’m back,” she had said, the line crackling a bit with distance.  “Give Carter a kiss for me.”

“Okay,” she’d said quietly.  The ‘I love you’ was on the tip of her tongue, so she hung up before it escaped without her permission.

The next night, she thought of Cat as she slipped into the cool, sensuous velvet and silver chain. She thought of her again as she pinned back her loose waves and painted a daring red on her lips.  She was nearly overwhelmed by the impulse to fly to Metropolis instead of the Downtown Continental Hotel where James had secured tickets to the hottest New Years party in town.  But Cat hadn’t invited her, so when the limo pulled up with Winn hanging out of the top, arms outstretched and waving a rose, she blushed and climbed in.  She accepted a glass of champagne, a kiss on the cheek from Alex, and a pat on the knee from Maggie. She was determined to enjoy her friends for the night.

As Kara breathed in the National City night and spotted the CatCo building glowing from uptown, her secret tugged painfully at her conscience.  Alex in particular would feel betrayed when she found out that she’d never truly said goodbye to Cat Grant.  James wouldn’t understand, Mon-El would be jealous.  Winn would laugh her out of the room. Kara was enjoying keeping Cat to herself.  The time they spent together, whether tangled in silk bedsheets under moonlight, making complicated pinterest recipes in Cat’s gourmet kitchen or sipping milkshakes on Kara’s bohemian fire escape, always felt like home to Kara.  By 10:30, all Kara wanted was Cat and since Cat was far away, Kara decided on the next best thing.

Alex gave minimal protests to Kara’s early departure, almost as though she could sense Kara’s desire to be elsewhere.  

“Happy New Year, sis,” she whispered.  “I hope this year brings you everything you’re searching for.”

Tears sparkled in Kara’s eyes as she kissed first Alex’s cheek, then Maggie’s.  She hugged Winn hard enough to make him cough, but he pulled away smiling and wished her Happy New Year in broken Kryptonian.  It warmed her heart and she thanked Rao silently for his friendship.  James looked disappointed but gave her a tentative, sweet hug.  It was Mon-El who attempted to argue her into staying.

“We get to kiss at midnight, don’t we?”

Kara tried to look past the entitlement and assumptions and sighed.  “There’s a dozen women in this room who will be glad to kiss you at midnight.”  She patted his shoulder.  “It won’t be me.  Good night.”

She caught a cab and let herself into Cat’s penthouse just after 11:30.  She had attempted to give the key back after her promotion.  Cat had closed her fingers around the key with a quiet, “Keep it.”  The memory made Kara smile to herself.  The drone of the television drew her up the short staircase and into the comfortable family room.  Kara smiled as Carter looked up and laid his finger to his lips.  Mrs. Hanson, Cat’s elderly go-to sitter, was snoring in the corner armchair.

Kara woke her and sent her on her way.  “C’mon kiddo.  Let’s watch the fireworks and make outrageous New Year’s resolutions.”

“Can I have champagne?”

Kara grinned.  “Not a chance.  How about mint chocolate chip?”

“Deal,” Carter smirked cheekily.

They settled into chairs overlooking CatCo Plaza where a crowd had gathered to ring in the New Year under Cat’s new Jumbotron, recently replaced after Kara’s destruction earlier in the year.

“Not to be rude, Kara, but why are you here?  Shouldn’t you be… I dunno… down there?”  He pointed towards the crowd.

Kara shrugged.  “I was with my friends, but I miss your mom.”  She nudged him.  “I decided I wanted to start my year with you instead of them.”  She was suddenly unsure about just showing up in Carter’s home uninvited.  “Is that okay?”

Carter smiled.  “Yeah.  It’s totally okay.”

The countdown began and as the clock on the Jumbotron flipped to midnight, Carter held out his spoon and Kara clinked it, giving him a shy wink.  “Happy New Year, Carter.”

“Happy New Year, Kara.”

 

++++++++++++

 

Carter fell asleep before the last chords of Auld Lang Syne had filtered over the balcony railing and Kara helped him stumble to his bed.  She couldn’t resist running a hand through his tawny curls as she’d seen Cat do a hundred times.  She shut his door and wandered the penthouse aimlessly for a few minutes.

She found herself in Cat’s opulent library.  It was adorned from floor to ceiling with books, old and new.  A fireplace with a cozy hearth stood dark but proud at one end of the room, surrounded by overstuffed furniture, perfect for reading.  Kara’s eyes were drawn instantly to the far end of the room and she felt herself settle down at the sight of Cat’s antique Baldwin piano taking up an entire corner of the space.  Kara smiled at the memory of getting that ancient piano into the penthouse in pieces, watching it assembled by the piano builder she’d purchased it from.  When he left them with a guarantee it was in tune and in perfect working order, Kara herself spent the next two hours tuning each string to her own specifications as Cat looked on in wonder.

It had been a piano much like this one, nestled in the top floor of the CatCo building, that had opened the door to their friendship.  And it was the patient private lessons Kara had been giving Cat in secret at that same piano that had opened the door to more.  Kara fell in love with Cat Grant at a piano, and that same love drew her to the piano now.

The wooden bench creaked a bit as she sat.  This instrument was antique, old and loved.  It had been restored to perfection and still smelled of oils and varnishes and history.  Kara’s sensitive fingertips could feel the tiny grooves and nicks in the shining wood; she mourned for the animals slain for the ivory keys and sent blessings to Rao for the music they gave her.  She began a lilting, complex melody that her fingertips knew by heart.  She let it fill her.  Her loose curls slipped over her shoulders and brushed the keys gently as she bent her head forward and closed her eyes.  Her lips moved in the ghost of potential lyrics that nobody but her would ever hear.  They were the language of her people, a language nearly as dead as her planet, but she felt her language come alive again under her fingertips.  The minor chords and runs of syncopated scales reminded her of the fast-paced rhythm of her city, and as the melody slowed and evened out, she thought of the quiet gentleness of the space between worlds where her father took her along on his travels.  She let the music soak into her soul and thought of Cat and Carter and Alex as the sounds lifted back to major chords. The song almost seemed to smile between its notes.  Kara smiled too, even as her tears dropped onto the keys.

She imagined Cat’s slender fingers curled under her own as they played scales and chords together. They plunked out simple melodies before Cat became frustrated with the keys being her middleman and began to play Kara instead.  And while Cat didn’t yet fully understand the language of music, she was fluent in Kara.  She knew her rhythms and her sounds and her curves.  Nobody could make Kara sing like Cat Grant.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Cat heard the music as soon as the door to the penthouse shut behind her.  She knew that sound.  Kara was here, soothing whatever rough edges had arisen during her evening with the only thing that ever brought her true peace.  The song was one she had never heard before.  She tiptoed to Carter’s room to find her son fast asleep with a wildly inappropriate Neil Gaiman novel obviously snuck to him by his older brother, whom he had grown to idolize.

She marked his page and turned off his light, made a mental note to address his reading choices over his Lucky Charms the next morning, and tucked the blankets tighter around his shoulders. With Carter settled, she quietly made her way back towards the source of the music still floating through the penthouse.

She kicked off her heels at the door to the library and crept through the threshold.  She tried her best to close it silently behind her, but the heavy latch of the door let out a telling clunk that alerted Kara to her presence.  Kara’s head rose, a surprised smile that warmed the whole room like firelight broke across her features.  Her fingers stilled, but only for a moment before the melody changed to a series of angsty chords and the voice Cat had so wished to hear filled the room.

 

**_The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek_ **

 

Cat laughed and laid a hand across her heart at Kara’s antics.

 

**_There's nobody here, it's just you and me_ **

**_It's where I want to be_ **

 

As she sang, Cat made her way across the room.  She let her hips sway a bit and took the long way around the piano.  She let a single finger drag across the closed lid.  She smiled as Kara’s breath caught.  She swept the fabric of her silky crimson dress under her thighs and claimed her favorite spot next to Kara on the bench.  She watched beautiful, confident fingers dance across the keys and happy diamonds sparkle in blue eyes.

 

**_But I hardly know this beauty by my side_ **

**_I’ll never forget, the way you look tonight._ **

 

“I’m sorry I’m late, darling.  As soon as I arrived at that insipid party I knew I wanted to leave, but it took some time to finally get off the ground.  I’d have made it in time if not for the nightmare of National City traffic.”

Kara’s right hand continued to play while her left laid a single finger across Cat’s red lips.  “Happy New Year, Cat,” she whispered, and she laid a long, soft kiss where her finger had been.  

She turned her attention back to the piano and the familiar tones of Auld Lang Syne made Cat smile softly as she laid her head on Kara’s shoulder and inhaled the floral notes of her perfume.  “What were you playing when I came in?”

Auld Lang Syne continued as Kara spoke.  “I… wrote it.  It was partly inspired by a lullabye my mother used to sing to me on Krypton, but I sort of… filled in the blanks.”

Cat was never sure how to comfort Kara when she spoke of Krypton.  The hurt was so deep and raw and old that she typically followed Kara’s lead on how to cope with such a loss.  She never wanted her care to be perceived as shallow or insincere and Cat never quite felt qualified to lift Kara up in those moments.  Instead she lifted Kara’s chin and poured her care into her kiss.  “It’s beautiful,” she said into crystal blue eyes.  “Your mother would be very proud.”

Kara smiled, cleared her throat and expertly changed the subject.  “Do you remember Heart & Soul?”

Cat sat up and placed her own fingers on the keys.  “I’ll try.”  She furrowed her brow in concentration and Kara’s center clenched pleasantly as she watched the tip of Cat’s tongue settle behind her teeth as she found her correct hand placement.  “Okay, go.”

They played in tandem for a couple of minutes, Kara’s bouncy harmony to Cat’s tinkling descant, sprinkled with the occasional sour note as Kara began laying playful kisses along Cat’s bare shoulders and neck.  While Kara could multi-task effortlessly without so much as looking at the keys, Cat was not so deft and gave up when Kara bit her earlobe.  Instead she threw a leg across Kara’s thighs and settled herself comfortably in Kara’s lap.

“Keep playing, maestro,” Cat husked as she buried her hands in Kara’s hair and brushed her nose softly against Kara’s cheek.  She could practically feel Kara’s flush as her skin heated beneath her hands and her breathing suddenly became shallow.

Kara returned to her own piece.  Cat stood, just for a moment, between the bench and the piano.  Kara’s fingers continued, even as her forehead landed against Cat’s stomach.  She gathered Kara’s dress in her hands and drew it up her legs, exposing her knees, then her thighs before she returned to her place in Kara’s lap.  She could feel those strong thighs flexing against her own as Kara pressed the pedals beneath her feet.  Her fingers never missed a note even as Cat stroked the soft fabric along Kara’s abs and gentle nails scratched a bit at the zipper along her spine.  Insistent thumbs stroked Kara’s velvet covered nipples to soft peaks and the first cracks in Kara’s composure showed themselves. A quiet whimper escaped her throat and her fingers tripped, just once, across the keys.  

“Careful,” Cat sang in Kara’s ear.  

Kara redoubled her concentration as Cat’s hands continued to wander.  One pulled the zipper slowly down Kara’s back, exposing her warm skin to the cooler air of the room.  The other snuck under the blue fabric pooled in Kara’s lap and traced the line of the lace panties she found there.  

Kara’s fingers began to fall heavier on the keys as the hand on her lower back pressed her against Cat’s soft curves. The hand between her thighs dipped beneath her panties and into wet heat.

When Cat’s lips met her own, Kara’s hands fell from the keys and gripped Cat’s red dress instead.  Silence enveloped the room and only Kara’s quiet gasps could be heard over the tiny squeak of the rocking piano bench.  

“You stopped.”  Cat was thrusting gently and Kara tried to answer, but got only as far as opening her mouth before Cat’s thumb against her clit sent her over the edge into sublime ecstasy.  Cat’s dress shredded in Kara’s fingers and Cat chuckled low in her chest as Kara’s face buried itself in her neck.  “That was expensive.”

“Take it out of my paycheck,”  Kara mumbled, laying kisses on Cat’s collarbones and relieving her of the torn dress.  She worshipped each inch of pale skin exposed as pieces of the dress began to litter the hardwood floor beneath the piano.  

Without warning, Kara lifted Cat by her hips and deposited her on the keys.  A loud, dissonant chord filled the room as the piano made its complaint known.  A series of quieter notes sounded as Cat’s hands braced themselves on either side of herself and Kara stood, covering Cat’s hands with her own.

Kara threaded their fingers together and squeezed, enticing new notes from the instrument, and explored Cat’s mouth with her tongue.  They kissed deeply for long minutes before Cat drew back, frustrated with the pace.  “Touch me, Kara,” she begged.  “Touch me like you touch your piano.”

The wicked smile that broke across Kara’s features sent a streak of white hot heat straight to Cat’s core.

Kara’s fingers did the speaking for her, dancing up Cat’s arms, across her bare back and shoulders, removing Cat’s bra and panties with deft, airy movements.  With the barest of touches her fingers continued to dance across Cat’s skin, playing each inch of ivory skin like one of her delicate ivory keys.  Cat watched her eyes and could almost hear the melody Kara played across her skin.  It was maddening and Cat’s fingers dug into the keyboard again, filling the room with sound.

Kara sat on the bench again and let Cat’s thighs add to the song as she spread them carefully, bestowed a reverent kiss on Cat’s belly before pressing her mouth lower.  Notes continued to ring through the room as Cat’s hips rolled against the keys over and over and their hands flexed together and Kara made Cat sing.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Kara lifted Cat off the piano and back into her lap as she curled against her like a kitten.  She stroked the cooling skin of her back, pulled her fingers through soft curls and laid sweet kisses against her flushed cheeks.  She swore Cat fell asleep, just for a few minutes.  She woke again when Kara began a final, upbeat melody on the piano.

 

**_L is for the way you look at me_ **

**_O is for the only one I see_ **

**_V is very, very extraordinary_ **

**_E is even more than anyone that you adore_ **

 

Cat lifted her head and met Kara’s eyes as she continued to sing.

 

**_Love is all that I can give to you_ **

**_Love is more than just a game for two_ **

**_Two in love can make it_ **

**_Take my heart and please don't break it_ **

**_Love was made for me and you_ **

 

She ended with an unsure smile and Cat reached behind her to pull Kara’s hands between them.  “I love you too, Kara.”

 


End file.
